Chains really didn't work for me.

Before You Give Money, Give Yourself

According to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. – 2 Corinthians 8:3-5

Giving money to help others is good. But for Christians, that’s the end result of something greater.

First and foremost, we are giving ourselves (continually) to the Lord.

God doesn’t want our “sacrifices” apart from our heart devotion. If you give up 100 things for Lent, but don’t have a humble heart of love for God, it is just an outward show without substance.

Or, as the apostle wrote in the famous 1 Corinthians 13 passage, “if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

Giving money without self-giving to God is empty. But, when we put our very selves on the altar, and choose God above all idols and selfishness, our every gift is acceptable in His sight, through the merits of Jesus who gave Himself for us.